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1956 Tour de France

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1956 Tour de France
Race details
Dates5–28 July 1956
Stages22
Distance4,498 km (2,795 mi)
Winning time140h 06' 05"
Results
Winner  Roger Walkowiak (France) (Northeast-Center France)
  Second  Gilbert Bauvin (France) (France)
  Third  Jan Adriaensens (Belgium) (Belgium)
Points  Stan Ockers (Belgium) (Belgium)
  Mountains  Charly Gaul (Luxembourg) (Luxembourg/Mixed)
  Team Belgium

The 1956 Tour de France was the 43rd Tour de France, taking place from July 5 to 28, 1956. It consisted of 22 stages over 4498 km, ridden at an average speed of 36.268 km/h.[1]

There was no previous Tour winner competing for the 1956 title, which had only previously happened in 1903 and 1927. An unknown rider from a regional national team, Roger Walkowiak on the Northeast-Center French team, ended up taking the title. Many Tour fans dismissed the win as being lucky or unworthy at the time, which Walkowiak took hard and did not often speak of his win.

Five-time Tour winner Bernard Hinault praised his win saying: There are people who say that Walkowiak should not have won the Tour. They should have been on that Tour! He took the jersey, he lost it and he regained it. He was not a thief. The Tour is not a gift.[2] The Tour was ridden at the fastest average speed to date, over 36 km/h. Walkowiak also became only the second rider, after Firmin Lambot in the 1922 Tour de France, to win without taking a single stage, and is the only Tour de France winner to date who never won a stage in any year.

Participants

As was the custom since the 1930 Tour de France, the 1956 Tour de France was contested by national and regional teams. Seven national teams were sent, with 10 cyclists each from France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Luxembourg/Mixed (the latter a combined team of seven Luxembourgian cyclists added with one Portuguese, on British and one Italian cyclist). France additionally sent five regional teams from 10 cyclists each, divided into Center-North East France, South East France, West France, Ile de France and South West France.[3][4] In total, 120 cyclists started the race.[3]

Stages

The 1956 Tour de France started on 5 July, and had two rest days, in Bordeaux and Aix-les-Provence.[5]

Stage results[3][6]
Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner
1 5 July Reims – Liège 223 km (139 mi) Flat Stage  André Darrigade (FRA)
2 6 July Liège – Lille 217 km (135 mi) Flat Stage  Fred De Bruyne (BEL)
3 7 July Lille – Rouen 225 km (140 mi) Flat Stage  Arigo Padovan (ITA)
4a 8 July Rouen – Circuit des Essarts 15.1 km (9 mi) Individual time trial  Charly Gaul (LUX)
4b Rouen – Caen 125 km (78 mi) Flat Stage  Roger Hassenforder (FRA)
5 9 July Caen – Saint-Malo 189 km (117 mi) Flat Stage  Joseph Morvan (FRA)
6 10 July Saint-Malo – Lorient 192 km (119 mi) Flat Stage  Fred De Bruyne (BEL)
7 11 July Lorient – Angers 244 km (152 mi) Flat Stage  Alessandro Fantini (ITA)
8 12 July Angers – La Rochelle 180 km (112 mi) Flat Stage  Miguel Poblet (ESP)
9 13 July La Rochelle – Bordeaux 219 km (136 mi) Flat Stage  Roger Hassenforder (FRA)
10 15 July Bordeaux – Bayonne 201 km (125 mi) Flat Stage  Fred De Bruyne (BEL)
11 16 July Bayonne – Pau 255 km (158 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Nino Defilippis (ITA)
12 17 July Pau – Luchon 130 km (81 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Jean-Pierre Schmitz (LUX)
13 18 July Luchon – Toulouse 176 km (109 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Nino Defilippis (ITA)
14 19 July Toulouse – Montpellier 231 km (144 mi) Flat Stage  Roger Hassenforder (FRA)
15 20 July Montpellier – Aix-en-Provence 204 km (127 mi) Flat Stage  Joseph Thomin (FRA)
16 22 July Aix-en-Provence – Gap 203 km (126 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Jean Forestier (FRA)
17 23 July Gap – Turin 234 km (145 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Nino Defilippis (ITA)
18 24 July Turin – Grenoble 250 km (155 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Charly Gaul (LUX)
19 25 July Grenoble – Saint-Étienne 173 km (107 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Stan Ockers (BEL)
20 26 July Saint-Étienne – Lyon 73 km (45 mi) Individual time trial  Miguel Bover (ESP)
21 27 July Lyon – Montluçon 237 km (147 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Roger Hassenforder (FRA)
22 28 July Montluçon – Paris 331 km (206 mi) Flat Stage  Gastone Nencini (ITA)

Classification leadership

Stage General classification

Maillot jaune 		Points classification

Maillot vert 		Mountains classification
Grand prix de la montagne 		Team classification
Classement par équipe
1  André Darrigade (FRA)  André Darrigade (FRA) N/A Luxembourg/Mixed
2
3  Gilbert Desmet (BEL)  Antonin Rolland (FRA)
4A
4B  André Darrigade (FRA)  Roger Hassenforder (FRA)  France
5
6  Daan de Groot (NED)
7  Roger Walkowiak (FRA)  Fernand Picot (FRA)  Belgium
8  Daan de Groot (NED) West France
9
10  Gerrit Voorting (NED)  Belgium
11  André Darrigade (FRA)  André Darrigade (FRA)  Vincent Huot (FRA)
12  Jan Adriaensens (BEL)  Fernand Picot (FRA)
13
14  Netherlands
15  Wout Wagtmans (NED)  Belgium
16
17
18  Roger Walkowiak (FRA)  Stan Ockers (BEL)
19  Charly Gaul (LUX)
20
21
22
Final  Roger Walkowiak (FRA)  Stan Ockers (BEL)  Charly Gaul (LUX)  Belgium

Results

Overall standings

Of the 120 cyclists that started the 1956 Tour de France, 88 finished the race.

Final general standings (1–10)[3]
Rank Rider Team Time
1  Roger Walkowiak (FRA) Yellow Jersey North East-Center 124h 01'16"
2  Gilbert Bauvin (FRA) France +1'25"
3  Jan Adriaensens (BEL) Belgium +3'44"
4  Federico Bahamontes (ESP) Spain +10'14"
5  Nino Defilippis (ITA) Italy +10'25"
6  Wout Wagtmans (NED) Netherlands +10'59"
7  Nello Lauredi (FRA) South East France +14'01"
8  Stan Ockers (BEL) Green Jersey Belgium +16'52"
9  René Privat (FRA) France +22'59"
10  Antonio Barbosa (POR) Luxembourg/Mixed +26'03"

Points classification

The points classification in 1956 was calculated in the same way as since the introduction in 1953, following the calculation method from the Tours de France from 1905 to 1912. Points were given according to the ranking of the stage: the winner received one points, the next cyclist two points, and so on. These points were added, and the cyclist with the least points was the leader of the points classification. In 1956, this was won by Stan Ockers with 280 points.[3] Over 22 stages (including one split stage), this meant that his average stage finish was approximately place 13.

Final points classification (1–10)[7]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  Stan Ockers (BEL) Green Jersey Belgium 280
2  Fernand Picot (FRA) West France 464
3  Gerrit Voorting (NED) Netherlands 465
4  André Darrigade (FRA) France 489
5  Gilbert Bauvin (FRA) France 510
6  Daan de Groot  (NED) Netherlands 546
7  Gilbert Desmet (BEL) Belgium 578
8  Nino Defilippis (ITA) Italy 596
9  Nello Lauredi (FRA) South East France 624
10  Antonio Barbosa (POR) Luxembourg/Mixed 628


Mountains classification

Points for the mountains classification were earned by reaching the mountain tops first. The system was almost the same as in 1955: there were three types of mountain tops: the hardest ones, in category 1, gave 10 points to the first cyclist, the easier ones, in category 2, gave 6 points to the first cyclist, and the easiest ones, in category 3, gave 3 points. Charly Gaul won this classification.[3]

Final mountains classification (1–9)[7][4]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  Charly Gaul (LUX) Luxembourg/Mixed 71
2  Federico Bahamontes (ESP) Spain 67
3  Valentin Huot (FRA) South West Franc 65
4  Stan Ockers (BEL) Green Jersey Belgium 55
5  Richard van Genechten (BEL) Belgium 30
6  Roger Walkowiak (FRA) Yellow Jersey Northeast-Center France 22
7  Jean-Pierre Schmitz (LUX) Luxembourg/Mixed 15
8  Raymond Meyzencq (FRA) South East France 14
9  Jean Forestier (FRA) France 13
9  Jan Adriaensens (BEL) Belgium 13
9  Bernardo Ruiz (ESP) Spain 13

Team classification

The team classification was calculated as the sum of the daily team classifications, and the daily team classification was calculated by adding the times in the stage result of the best three cyclists per team. It was won by the Belgian team, with a large margin over the Italian team.

Final team classification[7]
Rank Team Time
1 Belgium 369h 47' 42"
2 Italy +1h 01' 04"
3 Netherlands +1h 13' 11"
4 France +1h 24' 08"
5 West France +1h 44' 12"
6 South East France +1h 57' 39"
7 Spain +3h 04' 35"
8 Luxembourg/Mixed +3h 12' 59"
9 Northeast-Center France +3h 55' 25"
10 South East France +4h 43' 10"
11 Ile de France +5h 33' 50"
12 Switzerland +6h 41' 33"

Every team finished with at least three cyclists, so all teams were included in the team classification.


Combativity classification

After each stage, a jury voted for the most combative cyclist of that stage. Those votes were added in the combativity classification. André Darrigade won this classification.[1]

Final combativity classification (1–5)[8]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  André Darrigade (FRA) France 175
2  Roger Hassenforder (FRA) West France 142
3  Charly Gaul (LUX) Luxembourg/Mixed 119
4  Nino Defilippis (ITA) Italy 118
5  Nicolas Barone (FRA) Ile de France 106

Other classification

After every stage, the jury also gave a prize to the cyclist with the most bad luck. The award for most bad luck during the entire Tour de France went to Fernand Picot.[9]

References

Specific
  1. ^ a b Jacques Augendre (2009). "Guide Historique, part 6" (PDF) (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-03. Retrieved 17 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ McGann, Bill (2006). The Story of the Tour de France Volume 1: 1903-1964. Dog Ear Publishing. p. 219. ISBN 1598581805. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f "43ème Tour de France 1956" (in French). Memoire du cyclisme. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Tour-Giro-Vuelta". Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  5. ^ Jacques Augendre (2009). "Guide Historique, part 3" (PDF) (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-03. Retrieved 17 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Arian Zwegers. "Tour de France GC Top Ten". CVCC. Archived from the original on 2009-06-10. Retrieved 17 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b c "1956: 43e editie". Tourdefrance.nl. 30 December 2003. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  8. ^ "La Vuelta Ciclista a Francia" (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 29 July 1956. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  9. ^ (in Dutch). Leeuwarder Courant. 29 July 1953 http://www.archiefleeuwardercourant.nl/site/article.do?code=LC&date=19560730&id=LC-19560730-5007. Retrieved 17 December 2009. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

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